Strom



UNITED PATENT OFFICE;r

ALEXANDER HoLMsTRoM, or NEw YORK, N. iz..y

APPARATUS Fou ATMSPHERIC PILE-DRIVING.

specis'cation of Letters Patent No. 12,130, dated January a, 1855.

T0 all whom t may concern t Be it known that I, ALEXANDERKIrIoL-M-sTRoM, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Aapparatus for AtmosphericPile-Driving;and I dohereby declare that the following isa full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference, being made tothe annexeddrawing s, making a part of this specification, in whichl Figure I is aperspective viewl showing partly the interior; Figs. II and III are.sections in detail; and similar let-ters referto similar partsthroughout. y l y l l My invention is for certain improvements in thepneumatic process for driving .hollow piles or cylinders in theconstructionof hydraulic works of various kinds, said process beingknown as Pottss.7 .p

I call my invention an air-lock, and the object of it is to enable allthe variousoperations -of taking in materials, exhausting, or forcingair, Sac.` to be performed without discharging the workmen and by whichalso the said workmen have complete control of the pneumatic apparatusfrom within, so that they can apply the pressure, or vthe vacuum.,or'regulate the same as may be required, and ca n also govern `thevalves for ingress or egress; whereas in the old plan these, have to bevaried by signals to others outside.

a By meansA of my improvementlthe' amount of work which can beperformedin av given time is much greater than bythe other plans, whilethe safety is not only much increased but it isl falso found that ythelmenwillhvvork much better under the sense of (security given by theirpossession of the entire controlof the apparatus from within., j

, The mannerofr constructing and operatr ing my said air-lock is asfollows: At A is a portion of a metal cylinder or pileintended to besunk in' the ground beneath the wat-er, as usual by the air pump, .Theair-lock is bolted fast upon the top ofy the pile and the joint madeair-tight in thesame manner as if the common cap or `plate were used.v'Ihe air-lock is V"shown at B, and as, represented, consists ofl astrong air-tight cylindrical chamber. This ought to be. of asuiiici'e'nt height to allow men to stand upright to work therein-(theside in Fig. I is shown, as if partly cut away, merely to exhibit theinterior). Upon the top at (a, a) are two or more lights of strongglass, and at- (b) is 'a man-hole. This is capablel of being Closed l iby two covers, one of which is on theoutside at (b), and the otheropening inward' at (6), Fig. III, where it is shown open and hanging byits hinge. Through the bottom of the lock there is a second man-hole,preclsely like that just described, of vvhic-h (c, c,and 0) Figs. I andIII, will indicate the relative parts. a

At C there is a windlass, the shaftfof which is supported in bearings inthe sides of the lock, the ends passing through s'o as to be operated bya winch or otherwise'from the outside, and the joints being kept tightby stuiing boxes as shown in Figs. lI and II. The windlass is socontrived that its shafts may rotate without also turning the barrelexcept at the option of those inside. Thisis accomplished by means ofthe pinch-nut Fig. II, which when screwed up against the windlass causesthat to turn with theshaft,

while if unclamped, the windlass remains stationary, in which latterposition itis shown in Fig. II. The position of the .windi lass isdirectly over the lower manhole` (c) leading into the hollow` pile.

The several pipes are situated andl operated as follows: (d) Figs. I andIII is an. air pipe forming a communication-from theinside of theair-lock to the outside, the cock yor valve being inside. When there isa greater pressure in the inside thanoutside the man;

hole cover (6) is always closedandis jkept up by said pressure. (It maybe remarked that all the covers are either ground or, gumv joints andkeep tight by mere contactof surfaces.) When therefore a workman on theinside wishes to get out he first' opens this f pipe (d), when as soonas the pressurefis equalized, the cover (5) fallsv uponv its hinge, asshown 1n Fig. III, and thus opens a passage, the cover (b) not being onin-anycase except there isa vacuumwithin when of course there will be noworkman there. At (e)is another air pipe and cock, serving a purposesomewhat like that at (d) viz. .to

effect from the inside of the hollow pile an V equalization of the.pressure betweenit and.

the lair-lock from within the former, and at (f) is another air pipeleading to the pile,

Aand as represented, is to be operated from withinthe air-lock.

At (g, it) are two pipes which have com@ i l.'

munication with the interior of the hollow pile A, from without theair-lock', the dis.- charge being through the oor as shown.

One of these (g), leads tonand terminates' in l Vio a receiver connectedwith the air-exhausting pumps, as usual, and the other (z) leads'tofulli ascertained by the following descrip of Potts.

tion of its operation in connection with the sinking of the pile; andfirst to show its' use more completely I will brieiy state the mode Int-he first place in sinking the pile a cap must be put on the upper endand made air-tight; from this a pipe leads either to an exhaustedreceiver, or to an air-pump; if to the former, as soon as thecommunication is made, a partial vacuum is formed within the pile whichcauses the water, sand, &c., to rush violently out by the connectingtube, while it is at the same time forced down by the external pressurethus obtained. When it has been driven deep enough the interior is to befilled with mason 'l form a superior quality of work.

known that both vacuum and compressed work to give it weight andstability, and it is here that my improvement comes chiefly into play tofacilitate the Vworking and reduce both the time and expense as wellaspert is air are used in this mode of performing submarine works. Thecompressed air 1s brought 1nto play at such times as 1t 1s necessary formen to work within and near `or upon the bottom, as for instance, ifbefore the pile has been sent down to the intended depth it shall beopposed by some obstructions, as rocks or trunks of` trees, then thesemust be cleared out of the way. For this purpose the ,i must also bekept free from water.

pile must be kept free from water, or if sent down to its proper depth,then inorder to carry on the laying of the mason work it To accomplishthis the cap is put on, (the men and materials being within), enough airis forced in to counter-balance the pressure of the water from theoutside, and hence as l none can enter, the workmen mayoperate free fromthat obstruction. Now it 'will be seen that as soon as the materials areused up, (which can be put in but in very limited quantities,) the capmust be taken ofi', the men get up and take in the supply and theoperation of forcing out the water be gone over. There is also a certainamount of danger, for the lives of the workmen are wholly dependent onthose without, or on the perfection of the pumping-apparatus, or of thesystem of signals. Hence they always work with more or less of fear.

Now by my improved air-lock as before mentioned it is wholly controlledfrom within and it has also this advantage, the materials may beconstantly supplied to the pile Without taking off the necessarypressure required to keep it free from water. In the first place I willsuppose that the hollow pile A has been sent down to a certain depth bythe vacuum, and has been arrested by an obstruction, as a rock. The baseof the air lock B being bolted upon the head of the pile forms the capequivalent to the old mode. The force of compressed air is now to beemployed to empty the water and leave the rock bare for the operationnecessary to remove it. The cover (b) is taken away from the man-hole(b) and as many men enter as are required for the work, taking in alsosuch tools and materials as are necessary. The cover (c) is next takenolf of the man-hole (c) and a length of pipe sufficient to Lreach to ornear the bottom is bolted upon the Hange (i) of the dischargepipe (i).The cover (5) is then raised andthe man-hole (b) closed from within. Thecompressing-air-pumps are then set in motion, and air forced in through(h) and inasmuch as the man-hole (o) is open the pressureextendsthroughout both the airlock and the pile, the upper or top becoming thecover. This pressure keeps up the cover (5) The pressure upon thesurface of the Water begins to force it out through the discharge pipe(t) in a continuous jet or stream, the operation being continued untilthe interior ofy the pile is free. The workmen can then descendbeinglighted by the glass (a) or by artificial means as required. Theoperation on the bottom now commences. The shaft of the windless C is tobe kept in continued rotation from without. Any weights can be raisedfrom the bottom of the pile by throwing the barrel of the windlass intogear. The stone forming the obstruction to the descent of the pile, asfast as quarried, is thus brought up and piled upon the floor of theair-lock. As soon as the quantity raised has filled the air-lock as faras can be conveniently done it must be emptied. This can accordingly bedone without disturbing the menat work in the bottom of the pile, forthey can go on and get stone ready for hoisting.v In order however to beable to open the cover (6) the pressure of the air within must be madethe same as that without, and this must be so done as not to relieve thepressure within the pile. The cover (0) is therefore shut up against(e), the cock (d) may then be opened and the compressed air rushing out,an equilibrium will be produced, at which moment the cover (5) fallsopen, the pressure of the air being still maintained within A by thecontinued Working of the forcepumps. The stone and other matter exeavated is then taken out, and anything resurface of the water.

quired within may be received. The cover (6) is once more closed against(b), the air-cock (f) opened, and the pressure within the air-lock andpile equalized, at which moment the lower cover (0) falls open and thecommunication is once more restored. The work of raising theaccumula-ted stone, &c., then goes on as before. It will be seen thatthe men in the pile can work with perfect security for should anythingoccur whereby it was rendered necessary for them to come out all thatwould be required would be to open the air-cock (e) when the pressurewould soon be taken o' and the cover (0) thereby opened. It is vnowsupposed that the obstruction which prevented the descent of the pilehas been removed; it is then ready to receive the eect produced by thevacuum. The men all come up into the air-lock and the cover (0) is puton to (c). The pipe (i) being closed from the outside, the cock (g)leading to the exhausted receiver, or directly to the air-pumps, (as maybe requisite to produce a sudden or a gradual descent,) is opened andthe vacuum in A produced, the pile descends as usual. Of course theair-lock is never to go below the As soon. therefore as the top of Aapproaches the surface as near as deemed safe the air-lock must 4beunbolted from the flange and hoisted out of the way by a crane, andanother joint of the pile put on; the air-lock is then raised to the topof this last and made fast as before, descending with it to the watersedge.

When the pile has been driven to the intended depth and the interior isto be filled with masonry the same general plan before described is tobe followed. Materials are to be put into the air-lock in such quantityas may be convenient and they are to be replenished from time to timewithout interruption to the workmen in the hollowA pile, by cutting othe communication with said pile and the air-lock during thoseintervals.

What I claim as of my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis- 1. Constructing the air-lock in such manner that the pressure of theair, either within the lock or within the hollow-pile, may be governedby the workmen inside, whereby they are thus enabled wholly to controlthe means of escape for themselves.

by `those men are not only relieved from any extra exertion but theability is also maintained of applying greater force than could be donewere the motive power given from within, the whole being constructed andoperating substantially as set vforth herein.

y y ALEX. HoLMsTRoM. Witnesses: I i

S. H. MAYNARD,

JAmis L. ROBERTS.

